You
have no doubt seen them clinging to your shrubbery, climbing your walls
and wolfing down all sorts of
bugs and insects around your house.
It's Godzilla! No, it's only a Green
Anole (pronounced: uh'no-lee), one of Florida's true native
lizards.

Identification

Like
all lizards, anoles are equipped with
moveable eyelids and external ear
holes. Adults molt about every month,
casting off skin in bits and pieces.
Their feet differ from most lizards in
that each toe has adhesive pads
(lamellae) on
its central portion, enabling the
anole to climb and cling to vertical
surfaces such as walls, fence posts,
trees and leaves, on which they spend
much of their time.

Green and Cuban Brown anoles
are generally about 5 to 8 inches
long. Females are usually smaller and
can be under 5 inches long. The
long, slender tail of the anole (which
makes up about half of its length) may
break off at the slightest pressure
and continue to wiggle on the ground,
distracting would-be predators. But,
no fear, the lizard's tail grows back
over several weeks to once again serve
as a quick get-a-way aid.

Another striking feature of the anole is its dew
lap, or throat fan. It is attached to
the throat and displayed by means of a
flexible rod of cartilage which can be
swung downward and forward, thereby
revealing a brightly colored patch of
skin. Males display their dew lap
during courtship and when defending
territory. This display is often
accompanied by a series of head-bobs
and push-ups.

Cuban
Brown Anole.Click Image to
Enlarge.

Cuban
Anole flashing his dewlap.
Click Image to Enlarge.

Anoles are sometimes called
chameleons. This is undoubtedly due to
the green anoleís ability to change
its skin color, much like its Old
World cousin, the true chameleon.
While the green anole isnít able to
change colors as noticeably or rapidly
as the chameleon, it is able to alter
its color from green to gray to brown,
depending on light, temperature and
mood. The Cuban Brown Anole, on the other
hand, is always some shade of brown.

Food
Habits

Anoles eat small insects and bugs.
They stalk them in shrubs, in vines,
on walls and even window screens. It
is not unusual to see them gobbling-up
wood roaches or other bugs and insects
that have been disturbed when we work
in the garden. It is amazing to see
these little lizards grabbing and
swallowing prey almost as big as they
are. Anoles only eat live prey as the
prey must move to be detected by the
lizard.

Reproduction

Green
anoles breed anywhere from late March
to early October. Females can lay
single eggs every two weeks. These
eggs, which look like smaller,
leathery versions of a chicken egg
(1/4-3/8") are buried in the soil
and are often found while digging in
the garden. If disturbed, please cover
them back-up lightly with garden soil.
The eggs hatch after anywhere from 5-7
weeks.

Predators

Cats,
children, snakes and birds are the
biggest threats in the life of an
anole. While you may be tempted,
taking them as pets is not
recommended. Please leave them to
their lives as one of Florida's
Natural Pest Control Technicians. They
do much better outside in the
"wild" than they would do
caged in the house.

By the way, if one
of these little guys finds his or her
way into your house, cornering them
and gently capturing them in your
hands to release them outside is
highly recommended. They can live in
the house for a short time, but will
probably not find enough food,
moisture or warmth to live very
happily. The next time you see the
little lizard it may be as a dried-up
little skeleton next to the window.
Also, when you do capture them, they
will attempt two defensive moves,
first they will open their little
mouths to bite you, don't fear, if
they do bite you you will hardly
notice it, their teeth are too tiny to
do any damage. In fact, when we were kids
growing up in Florida we used to
capture these little guys and latch
them onto our earlobes as
living-lizard-earrings. The anole's
second defensive move will be to poop
in your hand when captured. Don't
worry, the poop is pretty tiny too,
nothing too terribly disgusting, but
be sure to wash your hands with soap
and water after contact with these
lizards (or any reptile for that
matter) as they may possibly harbor
salmonella.

This
Cuban Brown Anole has had a
run-in with a cat. He lost his
tail, but lives another day to
help keep your yard free of bugs
and insects.

Here is a story from a couple FG
readers that I had to share, it
is just too cute, enjoy!

"While
you discourage trying to
domesticate these little
lizards, how about when one
takes up residence voluntarily?
People we have shared our
experience with view the story
with skepticism.

Last
year (2005) about mid-June a
little guy/girl got into our
enclosed porch. I tried my usual
method of encouragement to get
him (I decided it is a him) back
out - gently moving him toward
the open door. He was not having
any of it, so rather than chance
hurting him I let him alone. We
left town for about two weeks in
early July. I fully expected to
find him expired. Some days
after we returned home in
mid-July, my husband found him
licking condensation from the
outside of his glass of ice
water! He found him doing that
again. So, we started putting
water out for him. We also have
a small fountain on the porch
from which he can drink.

Worried
that not enough bugs were
getting into the porch, I
started putting out small pieces
of scrambled egg. By now Him has
a name: Ziggie.

Ziggie
had by this time taken up
residence in a basket which has
a fake coleus in it and a small
wooden garden angel fastened
into a piece of oasis which is
covered with sphagnum moss.
Ziggie crawled up to the top of
the angel, watched for
breakfast, took a lot of time to
decide it was safe to come down.
He would take several minutes to
do this. He would come down
about half way and study some
more. Come down to the floor and
take some more time to approach
the egg. He would then dash to
the egg, study it, then make a
quick grab - sometimes taking a
bite, sometimes picking it up
and tossing it several inches
away!

We
talked to him a lot and he would
actually (sometimes) come down
while we were sitting in our
chairs close by. The garden
angel has metal wings and it has
always had a dried piece of
Azalea branch stuck between one
of the wings and the angel's
back. Ziggie took to coming up
at dusk and stretching out along
one of the branches where we
would find him - still there -
at daybreak.

In
mid-November, Ziggie
disappeared. We were somewhat
distraught that he might have
passed on. Just after Christmas,
my husband called to me to come
in a hurry. There was Ziggie
perched on the angel's head. He
ran when I approached and we did
not see him again until
yesterday. I did not know, but
hoped he was hibernating. I
didn't mention that after we
returned home in mid-July I
again encouraged Ziggie to leave
the porch. He went through the
open door, out onto the stoop,
and over the edge. I was sure he
was gone. I called him, "Z-i-g-g-i-e,
Ziggie, Ziggie came back up on
the stoop and into the
porch". By the way, we
leave the door to the
stoop/garden open often so that
our little dog, Maggie, can go
in and out -- so Ziggie has had
many opportunities to 'escape'.
We also leave the sliding glass
door open when the weather is
decent (most of the time on the
Gulf Coast of Florida).

Ziggie
has never to my knowledge
entered the house. He has
ventured about halfway across
the porch toward the sliding
glass door. We have also found
him on the rocks at the base of
the fountain and assume he is
there to get a drink. WE HOPE
WHEN THE WEATHER GETS WARMER
ZIGGIE WILL JOIN US AGAIN!"